Raise the Hammer

Toronto Councillors Examine Industry Assets

When you get frustrated with Hamilton city councillors, don't despair: they could always be worse.

With bass-thumping techno music blasting away and a naked woman on stage, three city councillors walked into a dark Etobicoke strip club yesterday, took a tour and sat near the stage for lunch.

On a break from a community council meeting, Councillors Frank Di Giorgio, Giorgio Mammoliti and Cesar Palacio took an "industry facility tour" at the invitation of the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada, a group representing many of the city's 21 strip clubs.

"I think we made constructive use of our lunchtime," Di Giorgio said. "We basically came over to see what the facility was like - what kind of facilities they have for the girls that work in there, whether everything was clean, whether they had space to store their materials.

"And everything was okay in my estimation," he added.

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan writes a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. He also maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.